


Never A Love So True

by shadowed_sunsets



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU, AU Doctor and Robot-like Rose, F/M, Kind of unhappy ending, based on the movie S1mone, kind of horror-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-14
Updated: 2010-08-18
Packaged: 2019-01-10 01:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12288330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowed_sunsets/pseuds/shadowed_sunsets
Summary: After a long history of failure with women, lonely bachelor John Smith is just about to give up on ever having a love life, when he has a crazy idea: to create the perfect woman of his dreams. The result is better than he could have ever wished for, a woman named Rose who he falls head over heels in love with. But, real life is never perfect, and as they say, Love is blind.





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer 1: All recognizable characters belong to the BBC, recognizable concepts belong to New Line Cinema.  
Disclaimer 2: I know very little about computers, so most if not all the technical bits and computer jargon is complete nonsense, and I can only hope it makes at least some sense.  
Prompt: Based on juliet316's prompt: Nine/Rose, and/or Ten/Rose, When Doctor John Smith created his companion Bad Wolf, he didn't count on her gaining conscious awareness, nor falling for her.  
 

John Smith was a lonely man.

He was so by nature, always preferring his own company over others. As a child, he had often been picked on and had usually played by himself at recess. Then, as he grew up, he’d never had the opportunity to really have a best friend since his family moved around so often.

But now that he was an adult, and had his first real job, John thought he was finally beginning to fit into the world.

Even though most of his coworkers ignored him or dismissed him as a socially stinted science geek, there were still two people at work who would spend time with him.

One was Jack Harkness, the incorrigible flirt and the source of several bets within the building. All though Jack often acted laid-back, John personally knew that he actually had a heart of gold. Jack had been the one to look after him when he first came to work, and refused to let him fade into the background.

Donna, the firey haired loud mouthed secretary, was the one he always went to for advice. She had an opinion about everything, and always knew exactly what to say or do. He also looked up to her since she was never afraid of voicing her opinion, or speaking up. Donna reminded him of his older sister, had she had the chance to grow up.

Donna was actually the only member of the female gender he could talk to without stuttering, turning into a klutz, giving away the numerous nervous habits he had, or managing to meet her eyes. And instead of finding these a turn off like every other woman he’d met, Donna had somehow found it endearing.

She’d been the one to convince him to get contacts instead of the large, clunky, thick-rimmed glasses he’d worn up until then. Now he just had brown reading glasses Donna claimed made him look sexier. Donna had also taken him on a shopping trip when she saw the limits of his wardrobe. She hadn’t yet been able to get him to wear a suit, but he’d grudgingly agreed to dress in a collared shirt and trousers at work instead of his usual uniform of t-shirt and jeans.

Then, when Donna had heard about his lack of luck with the female species, probably from Jack, she’d set him up on a blind date without his knowledge. He was saved from having to confront her about it though, because Donna was the one to help console him after the date had ended very badly.

“It’s not entirely your fault, John,” She said, trying to reassure him. “You’re a handsome man, you’ve got the looks women want.” Donna smiled at him then, as if she were trying not to laugh. “It’s just when you open your mouth that things go a little south. You’re a great guy, John; you just need to learn to tone down the techno babble.”

John sighed, ducking his head. “It’s not like I do it on purpose, Donna. I try not to, but it just comes out whether I want it to or not. Computers are a part of me, but women can’t understand that.” He quickly corrected himself, “Except for you, of course.”

Donna smiled, and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Good save, John.” She paused, and then said, “But, you just have to keep trying. I’m sure that eventually you’ll find a woman who won’t mind your technical genius. You just have to be patient.”

“I am patient, Donna. I’ve been more than patient,” John protested, “it’s just not going to happen. There aren’t any women in the world who care about computers or technology like I do. I should just give up now, instead of waiting forever.”

“Don’t say that John, or think about that.” Donna quickly scolded him. “You’re a great person, and there is a woman out there for you. You can’t just give up.”

“Donna…”

Donna quickly cut him off. “No one’s perfect, John. Not even you, no matter how much you try to be. But there is a woman out there who will love you for who you really are, who you won’t have to change for. There’s someone out there for everyone, you just have to look hard enough.”

John quickly shook his head, turning away. She just didn’t understand. “I told you Donna, I’m done looking, I’m finished with being patient. I’d much rather just…”

He suddenly straightened in his chair, and his head rose on its own as a crazy, ridiculous idea began to form in his mind. If he couldn’t find the right woman, than he could just create one. A perfect woman who was everything he’d ever wanted and who understood him completely. Why not? He knew computers like the back of his hand, and using his brilliant mind, it would be simple to create the woman he wanted; a woman who was only his, and above everyone else.

Donna stared at her friend from across the table as suddenly he jerked up right, a maniacal smile on his face and a frightening gleam in his dark eyes. She’d never seen him like this before, and suddenly she was afraid of him.

“John? John what’s the matter?” She asked worriedly, leaning forward across the table. “Are you all right?”

At the sound of her voice, John seemed to drag himself back to Earth. “I-I’ve got to go, Donna.” He told her, gathering all of his things together in a kind of whirlwind. “Thanks for your advice! See you!” John called to Donna from over his should as he rushed out of the lunchroom, plans for his new creation already beginning to form in his mind.

He knew that the end result would undoubtedly be a masterpiece. She would be all his, to love, to take care of, and to cherish.

A perfect companion.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~

It wasn’t so hard creating the program as he had expected, in the end. As a student, he had fiddled with the concept of artificial life and the potential for creating it, going so far as to make a blueprint and a preliminary model of such a program. He had brought them along with him when he’d moved to the city for his new job, a remembrance of the past. Once he found the box he’d put them in during the move, it took a few tweaks and adjustments (he might have been young, but he had still been a genius), to get the model to the point where he could use it for what he wanted.

After he brought the model up to date so it actually worked, the next task he conquered was finding a computer capable of handling the program, and able to do everything he wanted it to do. Even though his job at the technology company paid fairly well, it still wasn’t enough to buy what he needed. But he had some money put away that he’d been saving for years now, and also money to left him by his parents. Once he had gathered that money together, John went out to his closest electronics store and bought the desktop and monitor with the highest processing capability as well as the most advanced features and free space that he could buy with the money he had. The store didn’t have any large enough processors for him to use, but he was able to buy several of them that he thought he could string together. The keyboard that came with the package was a usual, standard keyboard, but with a few adjustments, he was able to make it work in combination with the program to take advantage of all its features.

John took home all of the things he had bought at the store, and dragged them into the den he had changed around to make room for the equipment. The desktop and monitor went on top of the wooden desk he’d inherited from his grandparents, and the keyboard went on another, smaller desk he set a few feet in front of the other one. He pulled his comfortable, black leather chair up to that desk. Afterwards, it took a few days for him to combine and rig up the processors to get them to work in the way he wanted, plus he made a few adjustments of his own, but in a relatively short time he was ready to start actually working on the program.

On the day when John first slid the program disk into the main processor, his heart was pounding in his ears and he could barely breathe. This was it. When he was done, he would have the perfect woman waiting for him, the woman who he had waited all his life to meet.

A few seconds later the program came up on the screen, and he clicked the button that asked if he wanted to run it. The computer bleeped at him, and the window disappeared to be replaced by another, showing the progress as the program loaded.

When the program finally came up on the screen, it opened to show a window with menus for different options. John clicked on the option for choosing a body, and a different menu popped up.

He chose female, of course, and then entered a height fairly close to his own, followed by a weight so that she would be slender but comfortably so.

The program took nearly a minute to enter the data and create a body fashioned to those measurements. But when the computer beeped at John and the body appeared on the screen, he was more than happy with it. She looked beautiful, and just like he had imagined. So far this was working wonderfully.

Next he returned to the main menu and clicked on the option leading to the menu for features. Here he was much more careful, making sure he had just what he wanted before moving on to the next area.

First he selected eye color, and went through all of the various options several times before finally deciding on light brown eyes with small golden flecks in them. All though it was an unusual coloring, it felt right to him and looked perfect. John next moved on to her hair, choosing straight and shoulder length, but he then had trouble deciding on the color. Black looked horrible, as did red or any shade of the two. Blonde was too light and dull, but brown was too dark and dreary, plus it also made her skin look far too pale for his liking.

John sat back in his chair, frustrated and at a loss. Her hair color was one of the most important things, but none of the shades available on the program looked right. Others might say that he was being picky, but he wasn’t really. She needed to be right, perfect.

He sat there leaning back in his chair, knees drawn to his chest and his head in his heads as he stared at the computer screen trying to decide what to do. He had come too far to go back now.

Suddenly he remembered his older sister and the way she had worn her hair when they were young. He had liked the chocolate brown color of their hair, it reminding him of their mother, but she had said it was far too dark and boring. So on the day of her fourteenth birthday, she had dragged him to the convenient store where she’d stood for what had seemed forever to him then, trying to pick out the right shade of hair dye. When he had finally grown restless, she’d picked a shade of faded yellow and carried it to the checkout. Their parents had thrown a fit when they’d realized what she’d done, grounding her for a month. But by the time she’d stopped being grounded, the dye had begun to fade so that the top of her head had returned to its usual brown color, while the rest was still dull blonde.

The memory brought a smile to his lips. It was one he hadn’t thought of in a very long time, hating the regret and guilt that came with remembering the happy moments of his life back then before the accident.

John practically leapt at the keyboard, and began typing in commands that would adjust the program to let him create a new option. Once he was finished, he hit enter with a fancy flair and then sat back as the model on the screen began adjusting to its new commands. As he watched, the shoulder length hair became the shade of faded yellow he remembered, and then a dark brown color slowly crept down from her part to stop just at the edges of the top of her head.

Smiling happily to himself, John saved his progress so far and moved on to eyebrows, nose and skin pigment. After scrolling through all of the options, he settled on thin dark eyebrows that curved just slightly above her eyes, a nose that was mostly straight and curved just a little at the end, and a skin color that was just slightly tanned, but not overly so.

Finally he came to her mouth, and her smile. The mouth that he finally picked was just slightly plump, with faded pink lips that looked just perfect for kissing. But her smile… that was what took him the longest to decide on. None of the options available on the program looked right. They were either too artificial or joyful looking, too snide or sarcastic, or sad or angry. He just couldn’t find the smile he wanted, the one that was the final piece to this perfect woman.

John cast his mind back through all of his memories to find the smile he wanted. He had unknowingly been dreaming about the woman he was finally creating for years now, so somewhere in his mind had to be the perfect smile.

An image from one of the dreams surfaced in his mind then, one that had consisted of a dinner with wine by firelight in front of a classic romantic movie. He remembered a flash of blonde-brown hair, a glimpse of shining jubilant hazel eyes, and finally, a cheeky smile with one side of her mouth turned up just a little higher than the other, with a hint of tongue between pearly white teeth.

John suddenly came back to himself with the realization that he had apparently drifted off while remembering that blissful dream. He shook his head, a little annoyed with himself, and then began typing rapidly on the keyboard again, entering the commands that would tell the program how to form that wonderful cheeky smile.

These commands took a little longer this time, but he finally hit enter and then grinned as the mouth of the model of the woman on the screen before him moved to form the smile from his dreams.

He was so close, with just a few more adjustments his perfect woman would finally be right in front of him, within reach.

His heart racing, John closed the window and returned to the main menu again. This time he chose the option for clothing, and waited impatiently as it came up. There were numerous options with every type of clothing known to man available in nearly every color. But the combination he finally decided upon were faded light blue jeans, obviously worn many times, with a light pink t-shirt that fell just below her waistline and was fitted at the waist but scrunched near the neckline. On top of that was a denim fabric-like jacket, full sleeved with a folded collar. A necklace with a golden chain hung around her neck, with an amethyst colored stone hanging from it. And on her feet, were flat brown sandals with brown straps crisscrossing each other.

And, with that she was finally done. John sat back and gazed happily at the screen for a few long moments, taking in everything in front of him. He had done a brilliant job, if he did say so himself. She looked exactly like the woman from his dreams, the one he’d been imagining all these years.

John leaned forward just enough hit the pattern of keys needed to save the image in front of him, something that he didn’t want to lose anytime soon now that he had her.

Just as he was about to sit back again, a small window popped up on the screen. It had just one word, and a small box below with a cursor that blinked at him, but the word nearly made his heart stop.

Name?

John stared at it, his mind having trouble catching up to what was being asked of it. Name? He had to name her? Now? He had known what she looked like for a while now due to his dreams, but he’d never considered having to think of a name for her. She had always been unnamed in his dreams.

He ran his hand through his hair, and leaned back in the chair again.

What on Earth was he going to name her? It had to be perfect, just like everything else, to define her completely. Names were important, especially now.

John ran through a few names in his head, but all of them either hurt too much to think let alone say every day, and the others didn’t fit. Her name had to be a new one, without any attachments or memories with it.

Frustrated, John leaned forward and nearly pressed the key to exit the program, not wanting or ready to deal with this right now. But as he moved, the title of one of the books on the bookshelf to his left caught his eye.

 _The Winter Rose_.

Rose…

He stared at the spine of the book for a few long moments, repeating the name silently to himself. The book had always been a favorite of his, its pages well-worn and several of them dog-eared for reference. It had been one the last gifts his mother had given to him, and therefore held a special place in his heart, and on his bookshelf.

“Rose,” John whispered softly out loud to himself. The name seemed to resonate around the room, and made something deep within him that had been asleep stir and then come to life.

It was perfect.

John leaned over the keyboard, clicked on the text box under the question and began typing the name. He took care with each letter, taking the time to spell it correctly even if it was just four letters.

R-O-S-E.

With a suddenly light heart, John clicked enter, and then watched as his creation came to life right before his eyes.

Rose, his darling Rose.

~~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~

The next day he was forced to work late on a new project that the higher-ups had told him was strictly need to know and needed to be finished as soon as possible. He came home late and went straight to bed, not having the energy or the time to work on Rose that night.

The day after, he came home as early as he could sneak away, which turned out to be around supper time, and went straight to work on Rose. He felt guilty for not spending any time with her the day before, but the project he’d been working on had left him completely drained.

He reopened the program he had used to create her, this time choosing the option for voices.

As he waited for this menu to load, John hooked up a microphone he had found to the computer, and plugged in a set of headphones as well. He was going to try to record some set phrases while he worked out what he wanted her voice to sound like. John knew that he wanted her to sound like him, accent wise, but he didn’t know how her actual voice was going to be like.

The menu finally appeared on the screen in front of him, and the computer beeped a few seconds later to tell him the microphone and headset was connected.

He recorded a few lines of himself talking, and then changed the pitch and timbre so it sounded more female. The result he received from this was almost right, but it needed just a little something more. John got up and went to get a few DVD’s from his collection from the living room and brought them back to his now makeshift computer workplace. One by one he loaded each DVD, fast forwarded it to a certain place, and then recorded one or two lines which he transferred back into the program where he was gathering the different lines of audio together. When he finished recording what he wanted, John layered all the audio together so that the various voices and lines were combined. This time when he played the audio back, it was perfect. She sounded like him, but distinctly female with a voice that held a large range of emotions and yet always sounded affectionate.

That was part of the programming for her personality he had given her, to always be affectionate and caring. He hadn’t wanted to go too far in designing her personality, so he’d left a little leeway for growth and developing as they spent time together. But he made her so she was smart, relationship-focused, understanding, and most of all would love him for who he was, since he didn’t want to have to hide anything from her. His better half as the saying went.

And with those additions, he had finally finished. His Rose was finally ready to come to life.

With nearly shaking fingers, John typed a few commands that would make the program combine everything he had done over the past few days together, and then finally bring her to life.

It took barely a minute for the computer to follow his instructions. Then, suddenly the screen went dark and Rose’s image appeared there right before his eyes.

 As he watched, Rose’s head rose and her eyes opened to look at him for the first time. While he gaped, awestruck, her mouth opened and she said, smiling, “Hello, John.”

~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~

In the days after he created Rose, John tried to spend as much time as he could with her. He often stayed up late talking or spending time with her, not eager to be on his own anymore. It wasn’t as necessary for him to sleep as it once was, and he could get by well enough with only a few hours.

When he did go to work, John went in as late as he was able to without getting caught as he snuck in. This didn’t take much effort, since his coworkers still barely noticed him unless he made himself known. The project he was working on was also fairly portable, so it was easy for him to show up and work a little just so it was obvious he’d been there, and then leave, with the device, as soon as he could. Working only when and where he wanted to, was one of the major perks of this job.

Rose didn’t mind him bringing his work home with him either. She always kept him company as he worked, talking with him and every once in a while making suggestions to help the device work better. The first few times he was a little upset when she did, but after that it actually amused him as they began to work together. It made him feel like she was becoming part of his life even more, and he welcomed that.

He loved Rose so much. He loved the way she always greeted him with a smile, the way she was always so happy to see him. How she always knew exactly what to say to cheer him up, to coax him out of a mood he was in. How no matter what, Rose knew whatever he wanted or needed.

She was everything he’d ever dreamed about, and even more.

Of course, there were times when John wished she were more than just a voice to talk with. He wished he were able to touch her, to feel her skin against his and to hear the sound of her heartbeat in his ear.

But, that was just his wishful thinking. John was more than happy with what he had, and he didn’t need anything else.

It was enough to hear her voice, and to have her company at all times. That was more than he’d ever thought he’d have.

Rose, though, seemed to somehow pick up on his silent wish. The next day when he returned from work, she was waiting for him with an excited look and happiness shining in her eyes.

Surprised by the enthusiasm of her greeting, John worriedly asked Rose what was wrong.

But she just grinned at him and changed the screen into a split screen, with her on one side and some kind of detailed blueprints on the other.

John frowned, trying to understand just what the blueprints were of, but he wasn’t able to make anything out from them. So he asked her to enlarge them for him as he slid on the glasses he had taken to wearing again.

With the help of his glasses, and the blueprints now filling the screen, once he studied them for a few seconds, John was able to figure out what they were for.

The realization hit him over the head like a brick, and he stared gaping at the screen, trying to understand. “Rose… what, what _are_ these?”

The blueprints disappeared to be replaced by a happily grinning Rose. “Isn’t that obvious?” She asked with the cheeky grin that made his heart pound. “They’re blueprints for building a body, for me.”

When John continued to stare at her disbelievingly, her smile faded slightly to be replaced by a confused look. “John? John, what’s wrong?” She asked, looking worried and a little hurt. “I thought you wanted this. I know you’re happy with things the way they are, but I thought this would be a nice surprise for you.” Rose bit her lip, suddenly looking shy. “You _do_ want this, don’t you?”

John’s mind finally sputtered back to life. “Of, of course I do, Rose. I just didn’t think you had picked up on it.” He managed to give her a weak smile. “It’s a wonderful surprise, Rose. But, I don’t think it can be done. Those blueprints are just for prototypes, no one’s even tried…”

Rose quickly cut him off. “Don’t think like that, John,” She scolded gently. “You’re the smartest person in the world, so I know that if anyone can build a body for me, you can.” Rose looked at him appealingly. “Please, John.” She begged. “I love what we have right now, but I want even more. I want to be able to touch you, to hold you. Won’t you give me that? Just this one request?”

John swallowed thickly, running the possibilities through his mind. If he worked at it, he probably could build a body for her. It wouldn’t be a very fancy one, but as long as it functioned well. And it was really only her one request after she’d done so much for him…

The fight went out of him then, and with a soft, “I’ll do it,” he found himself building a body for his beloved.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Rose paused in her monologue, waiting for John to say something or to respond. But when she peered out from the eyes that were not quite yet finished but she could still see through and looked over where he was sitting, her beloved John was draped over the keyboard, his head resting on his arms.

Smiling softly to herself, Rose stepped away from the computer processor John had plugged her still unfinished body into, immediately adjusting her programming so that she would not only be able to function without being connected directly to the computer, but also so she could mimic a human being. He had designed her body so that she appeared relatively human to begin with, her entire body the same color as a human’s skin tone and her limbs fashioned so they looked like and had the ability to mirror a human. Her hair was the same brown tinted blonde from before, made from a wig John had fashioned himself. The eyes John had found for her were only brown, made from a new type of prosthetic. He’d also bought her some clothes to wear, most often jeans and a t-shirt. For the most part she looked almost like he had when he’d first designed her, only now she had a body to interact with her beloved. John had been trying to fix her unfinished body so she would do just that, but even though he was a genius, he could be a bit slow sometimes. It was really her fault he was so tired; she’d been keeping him up far too late recently. She just became lonely sometimes at night when he was asleep and she had to spend the entire time awake on her own. For that reason she often didn’t let him sleep in preference to talking with him throughout the night. He was such an interesting person once you got him talking, coaxed him out of his shell. Rose didn’t understand why his fellow humans and co-workers didn’t understand this about her darling John. For some reason they weren’t able to see that about him. It seemed better for John to spend time with her, who appreciated him, than with his co-workers who didn’t care.

Rose walked over to where John was sleeping in his chair. She stopped next to the chair, and watched him for a few seconds. John was a very handsome, darling man. His warm, soft brown eyes usually hidden behind dark, thick frames, his pale skin spattered with freckles, and finally his gorgeous brown locks.

So handsome, and yet so misunderstood.

At the moment though, he didn’t look very comfortable. Rose thought for a moment, and then leaned down and slowly yet carefully slid the glasses off of his face. She set them down on the desk next to him, and gently ran her fingers through his thick hair.

“Sleep well, darling,” Rose whispered, lightly kissing the top of his head. Then she walked away, and returned to the computer processor where she plugged herself back in, without leaving any sign she had moved.

A few moments later, John stirred slightly. He sleepily raised his head, thinking he had felt someone’s touch. But even when he turned his head back and forth, there was still no one there.

John faintly realized that he must have been imagining it, and lowered his head again, promptly going back to sleep.

He never saw Rose’s perfectly formed pale lips move as she smile contentedly to herself from within the darkness.

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

“John, sweetheart.”

John started where he was sitting in the largest and most comfortable lounge chair he had in the living room, one that was actually second-hand. As he looked up, the heavy book he had been reading slid off his lap to fall to the floor with a loud ‘thunk.’

“Rose!” He squawked, dark eyes flying open behind dark frames as he scrambled into an upright position. “What are- what are you doing? In here? What are you doing in here?” John babbled, staring up at Rose who was standing in front of the chair smiling down at him.

“I was looking for you, silly,” Rose told him with a small laugh. She reached out and lightly ruffled his hair, as she tended to do.

While John stared confusedly at her, adjusting his glasses once or twice, Rose sat down on the arm of the chair. “I was lonely, and I thought,” she paused, “I thought, you might want some company.”

“But, but you can’t,” John protested. “You’re, you’re just… a computer program uploaded into a body I built! “ He leaned closer to her. “There shouldn’t be any way you’re sitting there, thinking, and talking to me. You can’t do anything without me starting you up, without programming you! I created you!”

Rose laughed sweetly and leaned over to peck him lightly on the cheek. “Oh sweetheart, you are funny sometimes.”

Still blushing from the kiss, John stammered, “I’m, I’m not! I just-“

“Don’t worry about it, darling,” Rose suggested sweetly. She pushed herself down off her perch to kneel with her legs on either side of his. “Just enjoy the moment.”

“What? What moment-?” He was stopped mid-question when Rose leaned forward, her body pressing against his. A few seconds later her lips were on his, gently coaxing his mouth open.

Rose sighed happily as she was finally able to kiss her sweet John. His mouth was warm and delicious, and it didn’t take her very long to coax him into responding.

She gently twined her tongue with his as she leaned even more into him. He was such a wonderful kisser, and Rose didn’t think she would ever get tired of doing this now that she had started.

As they continued kissing, John’s arms came up to wrap around her body, holding her against him. In response, Rose leaned most of her weight on one hand so she could reach up and clench her fingers tightly in his hair.

A few seconds later Rose realized that John might need to breathe soon. She pulled back a little, keeping barely a centimeters space between their mouths.

He looked so adorable lying under her, hair and clothes disheveled, eyes wide and dark, lips red and swollen. Just looking at him made strange emotions she felt only for John swell in her again. He was hers, only hers.

“John, sweetheart,” Rose whispered against his mouth, smiling lovingly at him. “My darling John,” she added before starting to kiss him again.

She kissed him mildly a few times, but then decided to be adventurous. Rose leaned into him more, and lightly ran her tongue against the top of his mouth.

John’s reaction was to moan loudly into her mouth, and press harder against her, thrusting his hips. Then as she continued moving her tongue back and forth, one of his hands began twitching against her side.

Rose withdrew her tongue and mouth from his to lean back so she was sitting upright again. “John, darling?” She asked amused, watching as he blinked rapidly, as if trying to focus.

“S-sorry,” John gasped, tilting his head forward a little in order to meet her eyes. A few seconds passed before he was able to completely focus on her, but his eyes remained very dark. “That, that was involuntary. Whatever you doing, it felt really, really good.”

Rose laughed, and bent down to give him a quick peck on the lips, although he was clearly hungering for more. “I’d guessed as much,” she teased, running her hand through his hair again. “That was quite some reaction to just a simple kiss.”

“Rose…” John whispered lustfully, arching against her. “Please.”

“There’s no need to beg sweetheart,” Rose told him gently. She then leaned down so she was whispering against his mouth. “Now, let’s see what other reactions I can coax out of you.”

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

John sat stiffly in his comfortable desk chair, leaning forward as he typed furiously away on the keyboard. Numbers and digits flashed across the screen in front of him, reflected on the lenses of his glasses as he squinted at the screen.

Rose stood directly beside him, watching as he worked. One of her hands rested next to his arm on the desk, the other, which she was leaning more heavily on, the arm of his chair. They had been working for a few hours now on trying to fix her body and programming so that her movements were more fluid and human-like than how they were now. John had also wanted her body and processes to appear more humanoid than the robot-like appearance she had had originally. Of course, Rose had already advanced her programming much further on her own than he had written it originally. She knew she should tell him so; tell him she was nearly human and becoming even more so each day. But Rose just enjoyed spending time with him, especially when it meant he was focused on her. She would have suspected John could conclude her developing humanness from their activities in the library several days ago, and their similar activities since, but John seemed to be dense about such things. He was willing to show such feelings for her, and do such intimate things with her, but still refused to believe that being able to do these activities showed she was more than a computer program uploaded into a built body. She was almost human, just like him. She was becoming human, for him.

“How are things?” Rose asked curiously, all though she was fairly sure she knew what he was doing better than he did.

John tapped a few more commands into the computer before answering, “Its fine, Rose. I’m just having a little trouble with this.” He grimaced when the computer beeped at him again. “What is wrong with you?”

Sensing he needed comfort, his genius being tested, Rose shifted her weight in order to raise her hand and gently trail her fingers through the shorter hair at the back of his neck.

It was a method she often used to calm him down whenever he became too overexcited. And, as before, a few seconds after her fingers touched his neck, John shuddered and let out a long breath.

“Mmm,” he sighed happily, relaxing into her touch as he slumped forward against the desk. “That feels nice.”

They continued that way for a long minute, before a sudden ringing sound echoed through the room, interrupting them.

John groaned loudly at the noise. “Oh, who is that?”

“What is that?” Rose asked confused, raising her head as her fingers stilled.

John straightened and reluctantly pushed his chair back from the desk. “It’s the phone,” he informed her, walking over to the bookcase where he’d placed the base for his second handset.

“I won’t be a minute, Rose. Promise,” John reassured her as he picked up the handset.

“Hello, this is John.” He said, answering the phone.

“John! Finally!” Donna’s voice yelled sharply at him from the phone’s speaker. “Where the hell have you been? Why haven’t you been answering your phone?”

John frowned, brow furrowed. “What, what do you mean?”

There was an annoyed sigh from Donna’s end. “I mean, space case, that both Jack and I haven’t talked to you in weeks. You haven’t been to work in weeks!”

“What?” John asked, thoroughly baffled. Surely it hadn’t been that long…

“I know you lose track of time easily, John. But this is just ridiculous.” Donna told him harshly, and he could just see her rolling her eyes. “The higher-ups are talking about firing you, John. They’re saying that it would be better to not get your work at all than to let you keep going at this rate.”

John was struck speechless for several seconds before he managed to say, “B-But they can’t do that! My work is important! They can’t just fire me like this.”

“You haven’t come in in weeks, John,” Donna reminded him resignedly. “I know you like to work at your own pace, but you can’t just work whenever you feel up to it. You have to keep up a regular work schedule if you want a regular paycheck. People have expectations of you John, and you can’t just do what you want.”

John made a loud, aggravated noise and squeezed his eyes shut. “It wasn’t, it wasn’t that!” He protested defensively. “I just, lost track of time. Like you said, it’s easy to do and I didn’t realize anything was wrong.”

“I could understand if it had been just a few days, John, really I could,” Donna said quietly, supposedly trying to be supportive. “But it’s been weeks. And, even though we’re friends… I can’t just overlook that.” She paused, as if taking the time to think. “I was worried sick, John. I thought something had happened to you. That maybe you were lying somewhere unconscious, or were in the hospital, or were actually dead. I had no idea why you weren’t at work.” Donna hesitated and then added quietly, “Can you imagine what that was like, John?”

Guilt settled deep inside his stomach at her quiet question. It wasn’t his fault, he really had lost track of time. But he hadn’t meant to make her worry at all, that hadn’t been fair of him. “I’m sorry, Donna. I really am. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I promise I didn’t.”

“I know you didn’t John. You wouldn’t mean to do anything like that.” Donna tried to reassure him, sighing a little. “But, you still have to decide what to do about work, because the concept of you getting fired is very real, John. You should be worried.”

“I understand, Donna. I get that,” John told her sharply, raising a hand to run it through his air. “I just,” he looked over at Rose who was a few steps away, smiling supportively at him. “I’m a little busy right now. I can’t, I can’t come in just yet.”

Donna made a strangled sound of annoyance. “You’re busy right now... God, John! We’re talking about your job here! Your life!” Her voice quieted a little as she continued. “What the hell are you so busy with that it makes you not worry about your job? If you are fired, what will that do to the rest of your life? You’ll just drift around for years, jobless and probably homeless!”

John tried very hard not to groan. She was starting to sound just like his mother when she used to lecture him when he was younger. “Donna, I understand that, I really do. But what I’m doing right now is important, and I need to work on this more than I need to work on yet another pet project for the higher ups. I’ll be fine, Donna. I need to focus on this.” He sighed quietly. “This is more important to me. I hope you understand.”

There was silence down the line as John waited for her response. All though he would still continue even without Donna’s blessing, he’d feel better if he had his friend backing him.

“I don’t understand what’s happened to you, John,” Donna finally said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “You’re different now. Before you were all about your work, that’s almost all you would ever talk about. But now, there’s something even more important to you? I can’t understand that.”

John exhaled air through his teeth, making a soft hissing noise. “This is work, Donna. It’s just… a different kind of work.” He paused for a few long moments, staring at the floor. “I’m focusing on myself for once, Donna, instead of on others,” John continued finally, his voice soft. “After everything I’ve done for those people, I think I finally deserve to do something for myself now. And that’s what this is.”

Donna was silent again for nearly just as long a time as earlier. Then, just when John was about to give up and hang up on her, Donna let out a deep breath, finally yielding. “All right, John, fine. I’ll try to keep the boss’ off your back for as long as I can. And I’ll also rope Jack in on this, I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear you’re all right.” She hesitated a little before adding, “Just… take care of yourself John, please. I really hope you’re doing the right thing.”

“I am, Donna. I am,” John reassured her honestly, glancing over at Rose. She smiled tenderly and then began walking over to him. “I’m sorry, I have to go. Take care, and thanks for everything, Donna.”

“John!” Donna’s voice yelled desperately. “John, wait-“

But he pressed the off button on the phone, and set it back in its cradle.

“John, darling?” Rose asked, stopping next to him. “What was that about?”

John turned to face her and quickly swept her up into a hug before kissing her deeply. “It was nothing. Everything’s just fine sweetheart,” he reassured her once they came up for air.

“Now,” John continued with a large grin. “I believe we have some more work to do.”

~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~

John stirred sleepily where he was lying on his stomach spread-eagled across the bed, the quilt pooled on the floor at the end of the bed, and the sheets pulled up to his waist, yet twisted around his legs. His hand clawed its way across the mattress, blindly searching for Rose’s presence beside him. But she wasn’t there, and even the place where she slept had no remaining hint of her, as if she’d been gone for a long time.

With that realization, John pulled the covers off and scrambled to the edge of the bed. He winced a little at the coldness of the wood floor beneath his feet, but hurried to the closet and pulled on his robe before running for the door.

“Rose? Rose!” John yelled as he thundered down the hallway and then down the stairs. His heart was beating wildly in his chest while his mind reeled at the idea that Rose was gone, that she had left him. “Rose? Where are you?” He shouted with a desperate edge to his voice, poking his head first into the living room, then the study, and finally the den. But she wasn’t in any of those rooms, making her abandonment so real that John rushed down the hallway to the kitchen in a near blind panic.

“Rose!” He yelled, practically skidding into the room due to how fast he had been going.

Dressed in one of her more erotic nightgowns, his favorite pink one in fact, with an also pink apron tied over it, Rose turned from where she was standing in front of the stove, a spatula grasped in her right hand.

“John!” She greeted him happily, beaming. 

But then Rose seemed to notice his panicked expression, and her smile quickly faded away. “John? John darling, what’s the matter?” She asked worried, setting the spatula down on the counter. “Are you all right?” Rose skirted her way around the island and hurried up to him.

“R-Rose,” He finally gasped, his entire body relaxing in relief. John reached out and pulled her against him, holding her so tightly that she could barely breathe. “You’re here, you’re alive,” he whispered into the skin of her shoulder.

Wanting to comfort him, and knowing he needed to be reassured he wasn’t alone, Rose reached up to cup the back of his neck and began gently running her fingers through his beautiful locks. “It’s all right John, I’m here,” she murmured softly in his ear. “I’m right here.”

John shuddered against her, but eventually his breathing slowed and his erratic heartbeat calmed as she continued her gentle ministrations. “I thought, I was so sure…” He hiccupped softly. “I thought you left me, Rose. I woke up and you weren’t there, and I thought you were gone. That you decided you could do better than me.”

Rose chuckled affectionately. “Oh, John. Dear, sweet, lovely, John,” She whispered lovingly, her fingers stilling momentarily. “That would never happen. I will never leave you sweetheart, and you will never leave me.” Rose turned her head to gently place a kiss into his hair. “We’ll be together forever, I promise. Forever, John.”

“Rose,” John moaned, trembling at her touch. His fingers clenched in the cloth of her nightgown as he wrapped his arms even tighter around her. It was so nice to have someone who finally understood him, who would promise never to leave him. John couldn’t remember what it had been like before Rose, and he didn’t know how he could’ve ever lived without her. Rose was everything to him now, she was his life. “I love you, Rose,” he sighed happily, turning his head to rest his cheek against her shoulder.

Rose laughed contentedly, lowering her hands to his waist. “I love you too, John. But, I have to look after the pancakes. If I don’t, they’ll burn.”

John reluctantly let her push him away from her so they were standing with space between them again. “All right,” he sighed.

“That’s my John,” Rose said smiling. She pecked him cheekily on the lips and then hurried back to the stove.

John looked after her fondly, grinning as Rose tried to flip one of the pancakes, but ended up making a mess instead.

He walked over to the fridge, planning to get some orange juice for them to drink. But when he crouched down and opened the door, most of what was in there he didn’t even remember buying. John found that odd since he was sure he had gone shopping some time recently. Otherwise, what had he and Rose been eating for the past few weeks?

Frowning, John straightened and turned around. “Rose, sweetheart?”

Rose turned from the stove, her expression curious. “Yes, John?” She questioned, the spatula in her hand covered with bits of partially cooked batter.

“What did you use to make the pancakes?” The fridge door was still open behind him, blowing a cold draft on his legs, so he gently pushed it closed.

Rose laughed as if it had been a ridiculous question, and turned her attention back to the pancakes. “I used the things in the refrigerator of course. Don’t be silly, John.”

But John wasn’t willing to be disrupted over this, not right now. His mind was starting to clear, as if it hadn’t been entirely his own until this point. John had recognized that he often found it hard to think around Rose, or to concentrate on anything other than her, but he had just thought it was because he loved her so much. But now, he was beginning to think about things that he was fairly sure he hadn’t thought about in weeks. Things other than Rose, and his deep-set affection for her.

“Rose,” he asked sternly, his voice heavy with concern. “When did we last go shopping for groceries?”

She turned to face him again, a small wrinkle on her brow the only evidence of her worry. “John, darling, what are you talking about?”

At any other time, he would have found that look on her endearing. But now, he was just annoyed at her for trying to confuse him. “Just answer the question, Rose,” he demanded grimly.

Rose flinched slightly at the coldness in his voice, something she’d never heard from him before. The happiness that she always felt around John faded away, leaving a heavy bitter feeling in its wake. “I-I don’t know, John,” She whispered, stuttering in the face of his anger. “Does it matter?”

“Yes, Rose. It does,” John told her firmly. He turned a little and opened the door of the refrigerator again, then stepped aside so she could see inside. “Look in here, Rose. What do you see?”

Not understanding what point he was trying to make, Rose turned off the stove, having already given up on the pancakes, and walked forward to peer into the fridge. After surveying the contents for a few seconds, she looked over at John again. “There’s not a lot, but there are things to eat.” Her brow wrinkled again. “Is that what you meant?”

“What I meant, Rose,” John began harshly, “is that there is food in our fridge that I don’t remember buying. I’m guessing that during the past few weeks we’ve been eating, since I’m not starving, but I don’t remember eating or making anything.” He took a few steps so he was standing right in front of her, his dark eyes burning. “As you might notice, Rose, there are a lot of things I don’t seem to remember well. Now that I think about it, the last few weeks are a blur. All I remember are the things I did with you; creating you, talking with you, building a body for you, touching you for the first time, kissing you, falling in love.” Despite his growing fears, John heard his voice shake as he continued, “So, tell me, Rose, and it had better be the truth.” He paused, searching her expression for any hint of reassurance. “Was anything the two of us did together, was any of what I felt for you, was any of what you showed towards me all these weeks, real?”

Rose stared at him with a deer-in-the-headlights look, her hazel eyes wide in her pale face. “W-what? Of course, John!” She protested, sounding horrified. “How could you think that of me?”

“Don’t play innocent, Rose!” John scolded angrily, waving his hand at her. “Ever since I created you, I created you, Rose, I haven’t thought of anything or anyone else. You made me focus entirely on you, but was that so you could manipulate me, or for some other less foul reason?” A sudden, horrible thought loudly made itself known to him, and all his anger abruptly vanished to be replaced by terror. “Oh god,” he whispered, “Donna really did call a few days ago, didn’t she? And I completely brushed her off. She was worried about me, just trying to help, and I completely ignored her.”

John staggered backwards a little before falling clumsily to the floor. He couldn’t believe he had completely ignored his friends, his life, in the favor of being with a woman he’d created, a woman who his entire, wonderful relationship with seemed to have been a complete lie. He should have known it had been too good to true. Rose was supposed to be perfect, the woman who he would otherwise have spent his entire life looking for. But it seemed that no matter how hard he had tried, Rose wasn’t as perfect as he’d believed. It was most likely his mistake, his human faults transferred to her through his own programming. Even if he had been so sure she was the one.

Donna and Jack must have been so worried about him too. John remembered Donna saying that she hadn’t heard from him in weeks, which meant that before her phone call, he must not have spoken with her since the day he’d found the last part he needed for Rose’s body; when he’d left work early and ran straight home. He wondered what they thought had happened to him, how worried they’d been, and how hard they had tried to get in touch with him. The two of them had always tried to look after him, like nonrelated older siblings, and he had just ignored them completely. He would probably be making it up to them for years to come.

Rose took a few steps towards John, kneeling down in front of him. Now that he wasn’t angry at her anymore, she was more willing to go near him, and to talk to him. “John, sweetheart?” She asked worriedly, reaching out a hand.

But John shied away from her, his mind still reeling in despair. “Don’t!” He barked. “Don’t touch me!”

Rose actually flinched, pulling her hand back. “John, John what’s wrong?” She begged, feeling her heart begin to break. “I don’t understand this, John. Why don’t you love me anymore?”

“I do, Rose,” John said, pulling himself out of his misery long enough to correct her. “I do love you, Rose. Mostly.” He looked up at her, his dark eyes begging her to understand. “It’s just that these past few weeks, all I’ve done is think about you. I’ve been focusing only on you, instead of also concentrating on my friends, on my life, on my job. I’ve treated you like you’re the only important person in my life, when I also have Donna and Jack, who I forgot about completely.” John sat up straighter on the floor and then slowly climbed to his feet. Rose reached out to help him, standing up as well, but he waved her away.

“But we were so happy together, John!” Rose protested desperately, wanting to touch or hold him, and hating that she couldn’t. “All we needed was each other, that was enough. Why can’t we go back to that? Why does it have to change?” Her voice cracked as she whispered brokenly, “I love you so much, John.”

“I know you do, Rose,” John reassured her, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly upward. “But we were living in denial. We were ignoring the world around us and everything else just so we could be happy.” He sighed quietly, “But we can’t do that anymore. I can’t do that anymore.”

Rose tried to reach out to him again, and this time he let her take his hand in hers. “The outside world doesn’t matter, John. Nothing but what’s inside this house, and the two of us, are important.” She gently squeezed his hand, her eyes shining. “We just need each other.”

John’s mouth opened and closed several times as he stared at her with a look that said he couldn’t believe what she’d just said. “’We just need’…. Rose, I don’t even know if I have a job anymore!” He said loudly, pulling away to begin pacing across the floor. “And if I don’t have a job then I don’t have any income, which means I can’t buy anything for us! We won’t have any food, any water, any supplies,” John whipped around to face her, desperate. “I need to be able to buy things, Rose. Otherwise we’ll just fade away!”

“John,” Rose began to say, but before she could touch him, he was off pacing again.

“I’m lucky enough to have friends who said they’d cover for me and try to convince the higher-ups not to fire me!” John continued, oblivious. “Not just anyone would do that, Rose. I’ve ignored them for who knows exactly how long, which they should be furious with me because of, but instead they help me! I’ve never known anyone who would do such a thing for me, Rose, and that scares me.”

Rose whispered quietly to herself, “I’d do that for you, if I could,” but John didn’t hear.

John finally sighed loudly and turned to face her again, hand frozen in his disheveled hair. “I’m sorry Rose, but I can’t do this anymore. I have to go back to work and start collecting a paycheck again. I need something to live off of so I won’t be constantly afraid of going broke. And I need to see Donna and Jack again; they deserve an apology. I can’t just put my life on hold anymore.” He paused, and looked at her beseechingly. “You understand, don’t you?”

Rose desperately wanted to say yes, but she just couldn’t. He was going to put a lousy job and his friends over her? The woman who would do anything just to see him happy, and who loved him just the way he was? That couldn’t be right. “No, John. I don’t.” She told him angrily. “And while you’re worrying about yourself and saying ‘I, I, I,’ what about me? We’ve been so happy these last few weeks and now you’re just going to abandon me? Disregard me and throw me away like yesterdays trash just because you’ve suddenly developed a conscience? Because you’ve realized that the world doesn’t revolve you and you’ve decided your happiness doesn’t matter?”

Rose advanced on him, angry tears in her eyes as she glared fiercely at him. “You created me because you were unhappy, John. Even with your job, and your friends, you still needed more. You needed love.” She raised her hand to place it against his heart. “And I’ve tried to give that to you, John. All these weeks, I’ve tried to make you the happiest, most loved man on the Earth. But apparently,” Rose added cruelly, “that wasn’t enough. I gave you everything, and I thought you were happy. But now you’re just throwing it back in my face, saying that everything we did together doesn’t matter. That everything I felt for you, everything I did for you was worthless, because now you actually need a life.”

As she spoke, Rose had continued moving forward, their bodies barely inches apart, until John was backed up against the edge of the counter, cornered.

“R-Rose,” John stuttered, his voice pleading and devoid of all the certainty it had held a few seconds ago. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to find a way to escape the furious woman now looming down at him.

“Well you don’t need that life, John. You don’t need anything or anyone but me, because I can be anyone you want, and I will do anything for you.” She told him confidently, smiling coldly at him. “You created me because you needed an escape from that life, John. An escape from the life that you now want to go back to. You’re abandoning me, John, abandoning me for a life full of unhappiness, a life devoid of love. Abandoning me for two things that I can give you, and would give you, freely.”

Rose reached up and gently ran her fingers through his hair. “But that doesn’t matter to you, does it John? I was created solely for you, but you think you can live without me. You think you don’t need me anymore, that you can find everything I can give you in your old life.” Her fingers stilled on the warm skin of his cheek. “Because who cares about happiness or love when you can have money, when you can friends. Am I right, John? You’d rather have friends, have a job, have money, than me?”

John opened his mouth to protest, rather desperate to say something, anything. But Rose pressed the fingers of her other hand lightly against his lips, silencing him.

“You don’t have to say a word, John. Anything you say now will be a lie, I know that.” She smiled sadly at him. “I know every thought that passes through your mind; I feel every emotion that you feel.” Her thumb moved back and forth across his cheek, stroking the skin. “I only wish you knew what you’d done. Then, you’d understand why I have to do this.”

As her hands moved to rest against either side of his head, John stared up at her, heavily alarmed and trembling under her touch. “Rose? Rose, what’s going on? What’re you doing?”

He had just enough time to see her cold, twisted smile, before suddenly his body felt like it was on fire as current after current of electricity charged its way through his system. His body began to shake violently, and no matter what he did, he couldn’t control it or even form a plea for her to stop. He couldn’t feel anything except the liquid fire of the electricity in his body as it flowed through his veins and up to his heart and lungs.

Finally his body went thankfully numb, and he couldn’t feel the pain anymore, just a blissful, suspended feeling. Synapses stopped firing in his mind as he stopped thinking at all, and all feelings faded away.

As the darkness swallowed him, and the light faded from his eyes, the last thing he ever heard in this life was Rose’s voice telling him she loved him, and that now, they would be together forever.


End file.
